April 2, 2019

Data science

  • extracting knowledge and meaning from (big) data
  • statistics, mathematics, computer science


  • Where do the data come from?

(James Montgomery Flagg)

\(>\) 90% of researchers in the biological sciences work with or plan to work with big data

(Williams & Teal 2017)

Next-generation sequencing

(NIH National Human Genome Research Institute)

Next-generation sequencing

(NIH National Human Genome Research Institute)

Next-generation sequencing

(NIH National Human Genome Research Institute)

\(>\) 60% of researchers in the biological sciences report a need for more training in data science

Meta-analysis 2013 - 2016
(Attwood et al 2017)

Not just academia

We need to teach
data science in undergraduate life
science curriculum.

Barriers to data science integration

  1. Faculty training
  2. Student interest
  3. Student preparation in mathematics, statistics, and computer science
  4. Already overly full curricula
  5. Limited access to resources (hardware, software)

(Williams et al 2017)





Experiential
Data science for
Undergraduate
Cross-disciplinary
Education




Our goal

Modular integration of
data science curriculum into
existing courses

Content overview

Course overview

Example student

MICB 301

MICB 301 - MICB 322

MICB 301 - 322 - 405

MICB 301 - 322 - 405 - 425

Example student

MICB 301

MICB 301

MICB 405

MICB 405

MICB 322

MICB 322

MICB 425

MICB 425

Solutions to integration

  1. Faculty training
  • Dedicated Postdoctoral Teaching and Learning Fellow


2. Student interest

  • Direct connections to other course curricula
  • Hands-on, experiential learning

Solutions to integration

3. Student preparation

  • No prior knowledge assumed


4. Already overly full curricula

  • No new courses required


5. Limited access to resources

  • Stripped down datasets and use of cloud resources
  • Open-source tools and curricula

Students impacted per year

References

Attwood et al 10.1093/bib/bbx100 Williams et al 10.1101/204420

(Williams & Teal 10.1111/nyas.13207)

Opportunities at UBC

GenBank sequences

Undergraduate programs

BSc in Bioinformatics

  • U. of Montreal
  • U. Saskatchewan
  • U. Calgary
  • Carleton U.

Joint BSc degrees

  • Simon Fraser U.
  • U. of British Columbia

Specializations / minors

  • Dalhousie U.
  • McGill U.
  • U. of Toronto
  • U. of Victoria
  • U. of Waterloo
  • U. of Western Ontario

MDS programs

(Michael Rappa, NC State University)